Bateman became an important player in the City of
London and, subscribing to the
Bank of England on its foundation in 1694, became one of its founding directors. He also began to dabble in
politics. At the 1695 election he contested
Totnes unsuccessfully. However, he was nearly impeached in 1695 because of his involvement with the Company of Scotland. He was active in establishing an alternative East India Company and in 1698 was a founding director of the New East Indies
Company. He was knighted on 14 December 1698. At the first general election of 1701 he stood unsuccessfully at
St Mawes. He seems to have decided to concentrate on City politics instead and was appointed
Sheriff of London for 1701 to 1702, elected
Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for 1703 to 1705 and
Governor for 1705 to 1707. In 1705 he bought the
Shobdon estate in Herefordshire and replaced the Jacobean house with a new Palladian style building, of which only the service block has survived. He resumed his position as a director of the Bank of England in 1707 until 1711. In 1708, he became an alderman and a member of the
Loriners’ Company. He was a director of the
United East India Company from 1709 to 1710, a prime warden of the
Fishmongers’ Company for 1710 to 1712 and resigned as Director of the Bank of England in 1711 to become a sub-Governor of the
South Sea Company until his death. Bateman stood unsuccessfully for Parliament for
London at the 1710 general election. He was returned unopposed as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Ilchester at a by-election on 2 June 1711, and was returned again at the
1713 general election. ==Death and legacy==